Keep creating, keep innovating – the Message to The Next Generation from Director General of WIPO Francis Gurry

This year theme of World Intellectual Property Day April 26, is “Creativity – The Next Generation”

Nowadays mankind creates and develops in a very dynamic and exciting pace. Life sciences together with the new technologies generate a great potential for development. They are transforming the way we live, communicate, heal, entertain, work or study.

“What will the next generation bring?” – It’s difficult to predict the future. The rapid everyday change of our universe based on innovations, new high technologies and creativity takes place in every sphere of our life.

And the role of Intellectual property and people is to support that rapid move by creating “a unique incentive for investment in research and development, in innovation, and in cultural creation and production”.

This year’s message of Mr. Francis Gurry is turned to the young – the future of our planet: “Young people have the capacity to dream in a way that far surpasses the capacity of older people. They are the future. So my message to the next generation on World IP Day is keep creating, keep innovating. And keep thinking about how IP should fulfill its role in the future social management of creativity and innovation.”

Latest entries in China

Better intellectual property protection for firms from the United States doing business in China has been a key issue in bilateral trade negotiations ever since Bill Clinton was president. Source: South China Morning Post

This is to advise that the Chinese Trademark Office announced in early October 2015 that the official fees for filing a trademark application will be reduced effective 15 October 2015. The official fees for filing one trademark application in one class would have been CNY800 (USD126) before the effective date and will now be CNY600 […]

China The Advertisement Law of the People’s Republic of China was amended on April 24, 2015, since its adoption on October 27, 1994, and comes into force on September 1, 2015. It brings about significant changes to the regulatory regime for advertising activities in China. In particular, it prohibits the use of tobacco trademarks and […]

IP4all Weekly Bulletin

The new EU trade mark Regulation enters into force on March 23rd. As a result, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) will change its name to the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

The amending Regulation also revises the fees payable to the Office, including an overall reduction in their amounts, particularly in the case of trade mark renewal fees. On 23.3. 2016, the Office’s online application forms and fee calculator will be automatically updated to reflect the new system.

From its base in Alicante, Spain, OHIM has processed more than 1.3 million Community trade mark applications in 23 EU languages, from nearly every country and region in the world, since 1996.

The Amending Regulation was published on 24 December 2015 and is part of the EU trade mark reform legislative package that also includes the replacement of the existing EU Trade Mark Directive (Directive 2008/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council).

OHIM is the EU’s largest decentralised agency. It is entirely self-financed, receiving no funding from the EU Budget. As well as managing the Community trade mark and the registered Community design (RCD), it works in collaboration with the EU national and regional IP offices to build a stronger IP system across the EU for the benefit of users.